How do we help violent teens?

A Rotorua teacher says pulling violent kids out of mainstream schooling is a "crazy" move.
The teacher, Polly Withington, has responded to Secondary Principal Association of New Zealand president Graham Young's call for debate over the concept of taking violent teens out of mainstream schools.
"We're talking about people who have a history that has been going on for most of their life," Mr Young said.
The Tauranga Boys' College principal has suggested violent students could be taught in specialist schools by specialist teachers.
Schools would become social-welfare agencies unless they drew the line about what behaviours were acceptable and manageable, he said.
The concept has polarised opinion in Rotorua.
Mrs Withington taught at a specialist school for students with behavioural problems or learning difficulties for 18 months.
She enjoyed the work but said constantly dealing with problem children was very demanding.
Unless they were extreme cases, violent students should be kept in mainstream schools. Pulling them out of mainstream schools was a "crazy" idea, she said.
If a person wanted to make a difference in a disruptive student's life, they needed to help them not push them away.
"You don't condone what they do, but you have an understanding," Mrs Withington said.
John Paul College principal Patrick Walsh, an executive member on the Secondary Principal's Association of New Zealand, said students who bit, kicked or threw things at each other should not be in mainstream education.
"It doesn't mean that you don't provide them with an education."
He said it also didn't mean the violent students would not be welcome at a mainstream school forever. Instead he said students could get help for their issues and then be re-integrated back into their school.
Mr Walsh said he would welcome more alternative education.
Without it, he said students would be expelled and then excluded from other schools, which he believed "leads to further problems".
Mrs Withington agreed that violent students exhibiting life-threatening behaviour should not be in mainstream schooling.
A student at the specialist school she taught at had threatened to "smash" her "lights out". He was given help to deal with his anger problems outside of the school before returning.
"It was the best thing that ever happened to him," she said.
Only students with extreme problems benefited in such situations, she said. Placing problem children in separate education created the stigma of troubled teenagers, and could also create a violent group.
Mr Young said pupils' disabilities manifested in behavioural ways, and impacted on the lives and education of other children and on the stress and workload of teachers.
He believed mainstream schools may not be appropriate for students with gross, violent behavioural disorders because these schools may not be able to cater for their needs.
She queried whether Mr Young understood the needs of troubled kids. "Obviously he hasn't had anything to do with kids like them."